Secondly, there would be tears. There are 2 types of tears - a) tears that are produced by worldly sorrow b) Tears that are produced by godly sorrow. When you reach this stage it becomes easy to weep and cry before God. The groaning affects your whole body and emotional system so much that it is easy to cry and weep before the Lord. Hebrew 3:7 Jesus offered prayer in vehement cries
(groaning) and tears to Him who was able to save him from death. There are some men who because they are of the opinion that it is unmanly to cry, they learn to harden their hearts to keep themselves from crying. They may have experienced something that has affected them very deeply and emotionally like death and in order that they may be protected from hurt and in order to maintain their sanity they harden themselves up. But that is not the way God made man. It is unnatural. And the Bible tells us that Jesus Himself cried and wept.
When the disciples reported to Jesus that some of the people thought that he was Jeremiah the prophet, the reason they associated Jesus with Jeremiah was because Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet and very probably there were a few occasions 5 when they saw Jesus weep. He knew groaning and crying and tears in the Lord. It is the tears that express the depth of our involvement in what we are praying for when we are deeply and emotionally involved with a person and that person hurts us we cry. When you are involved deeply in something that you are praying about you can cry about it. You may not cry if you are not so deeply involved.
The greater your involvement in the creative process of God, the easier it is to cry. 2 Chronicles 32:24-26 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death and he prayed to the Lord; and He spoke to him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown to him, for his heart was lifted up: therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
2 Kings 20:l-5 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ “ Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.
It is the same story. Every prophecy of the Lord whether the condition is mentioned or not is subject to the fact of human will. Isaiah the prophet said that the king would die. But every prophecy no matter how authoritative it sounds or commanding or predictive in tone is always subject to how the will responds to it. There are conditions attached and you can change the prophecy if you obey the
conditions. Hezekiah turned his face to God and prayed and wept bitterly. And the Lord told Isaiah to revoke the prophecy. This all show that every prophecy is conditional, that it need not happen. When God saw Hezekiah crying, He revoked the penalty. It was not just the prayer but the agonizing tears that moved the Lord to spare him.
1 Kings 21:27 The Lord spared Ahab because of his repentance. Ahab cried and he was the most evil king. But because he wept in repentance the Lord spared him and deferred the disaster to the reign of his son. How powerful are tears when they are brought forth to God in the right atmosphere and rightfully.
Thirdly, there would be an intercessory sensation - where you sense like you are one with Jesus' priestly ministry and where you sense you are one with the object of your prayer. It brings you into a deep level of the consciousness of the Spirit. Romans 8:26-27 We do not know how to pray but the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. It is the Spirit who intercedes not just your human spirit that prays when you are in tongues (I Cor 14:14.). But when you move into groaning and you are so yielded to God that the Holy Spirit prays through you. The Holy Spirit literally takes over and prays through you. That is very powerful. And here there is a difference between praying in tongues and when the Spirit takes over and intercedes. The Spirit prays with groanings that cannot be uttered. He pours Himself forth in groaning.
And He makes intercession for the saints. This is what I mean intercessory sensation, that is a taking over by the Spirit of our prayer life and the Spirit just pours forth and breaks forth and you feel like
just an observer, not making any effort but allowing the Spirit to take over. When you pray in the Spirit the Spirit is there praying through you. But now the Spirit is praying for you. And when these three things are happening and the Holy Spirit takes over the creative power of God begins to flow mightily. Personally I have felt what it was like when I allow the Holy Spirit to take over.
It was like a fresh fire that came down. I found myself praying and sighing and groaning and what surprised me that I had done nothing by myself to get into this area of praying. I was aware I was not praying but the Spirit was praying - through me with my own lips. I had not lost my free will. I would have stopped it if I wanted to but I chose not to stop it. It was different from praying in tongues
because in praying in tongues I could feel the effort that was involved. But in groaning the Spirit literally took over my tongue and He just came bursting forth. I experienced the same thing that happened in Acts 2. That was a mighty experience. A takeover happens in your life. You become just a third party; there is no effort involved. There is a time when you have to stir the Spirit and there is also a time when the Spirit is stirring you. He is like a tidal wave.
THANK YOU FOR READING!!
(groaning) and tears to Him who was able to save him from death. There are some men who because they are of the opinion that it is unmanly to cry, they learn to harden their hearts to keep themselves from crying. They may have experienced something that has affected them very deeply and emotionally like death and in order that they may be protected from hurt and in order to maintain their sanity they harden themselves up. But that is not the way God made man. It is unnatural. And the Bible tells us that Jesus Himself cried and wept.
When the disciples reported to Jesus that some of the people thought that he was Jeremiah the prophet, the reason they associated Jesus with Jeremiah was because Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet and very probably there were a few occasions 5 when they saw Jesus weep. He knew groaning and crying and tears in the Lord. It is the tears that express the depth of our involvement in what we are praying for when we are deeply and emotionally involved with a person and that person hurts us we cry. When you are involved deeply in something that you are praying about you can cry about it. You may not cry if you are not so deeply involved.
The greater your involvement in the creative process of God, the easier it is to cry. 2 Chronicles 32:24-26 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death and he prayed to the Lord; and He spoke to him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown to him, for his heart was lifted up: therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
2 Kings 20:l-5 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ “ Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.
It is the same story. Every prophecy of the Lord whether the condition is mentioned or not is subject to the fact of human will. Isaiah the prophet said that the king would die. But every prophecy no matter how authoritative it sounds or commanding or predictive in tone is always subject to how the will responds to it. There are conditions attached and you can change the prophecy if you obey the
conditions. Hezekiah turned his face to God and prayed and wept bitterly. And the Lord told Isaiah to revoke the prophecy. This all show that every prophecy is conditional, that it need not happen. When God saw Hezekiah crying, He revoked the penalty. It was not just the prayer but the agonizing tears that moved the Lord to spare him.
1 Kings 21:27 The Lord spared Ahab because of his repentance. Ahab cried and he was the most evil king. But because he wept in repentance the Lord spared him and deferred the disaster to the reign of his son. How powerful are tears when they are brought forth to God in the right atmosphere and rightfully.
Thirdly, there would be an intercessory sensation - where you sense like you are one with Jesus' priestly ministry and where you sense you are one with the object of your prayer. It brings you into a deep level of the consciousness of the Spirit. Romans 8:26-27 We do not know how to pray but the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. It is the Spirit who intercedes not just your human spirit that prays when you are in tongues (I Cor 14:14.). But when you move into groaning and you are so yielded to God that the Holy Spirit prays through you. The Holy Spirit literally takes over and prays through you. That is very powerful. And here there is a difference between praying in tongues and when the Spirit takes over and intercedes. The Spirit prays with groanings that cannot be uttered. He pours Himself forth in groaning.
And He makes intercession for the saints. This is what I mean intercessory sensation, that is a taking over by the Spirit of our prayer life and the Spirit just pours forth and breaks forth and you feel like
just an observer, not making any effort but allowing the Spirit to take over. When you pray in the Spirit the Spirit is there praying through you. But now the Spirit is praying for you. And when these three things are happening and the Holy Spirit takes over the creative power of God begins to flow mightily. Personally I have felt what it was like when I allow the Holy Spirit to take over.
It was like a fresh fire that came down. I found myself praying and sighing and groaning and what surprised me that I had done nothing by myself to get into this area of praying. I was aware I was not praying but the Spirit was praying - through me with my own lips. I had not lost my free will. I would have stopped it if I wanted to but I chose not to stop it. It was different from praying in tongues
because in praying in tongues I could feel the effort that was involved. But in groaning the Spirit literally took over my tongue and He just came bursting forth. I experienced the same thing that happened in Acts 2. That was a mighty experience. A takeover happens in your life. You become just a third party; there is no effort involved. There is a time when you have to stir the Spirit and there is also a time when the Spirit is stirring you. He is like a tidal wave.
THANK YOU FOR READING!!
No comments:
Post a Comment